- The support of financial aid will help startups to bring their IoT-based products to the market.
- They will also get an oppurtunity to carry out R&D activities in one of India’s state-of-the-art labs.
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), under the aegis of the government of Kerala has roped in Brinc, a Hong Kong-based hardware accelerator, to address the issues faced by the hardware development startups in India.
Brinc along with Maker Village and KSUM, intends to support startups working on internet of things (IoT), robotics and consumer electronics. Manav Gupta, CEO, Brinc said that this step will aid startups having a working prototype, to advance their design for manufacturing (DFM) phase.
Providing world-class facilities
Brinc plans to invest US$ 250k in such startups who progress through the Brinc accelerator program levels. Through this investment, the startups will receive much-needed support to bring their developed products to the market.
Additionally, the selected startups will get an opportunity to visit the state-of-the-art labs at Kochi’s Integrated Startup Complex. There they can make use of: industrial 3D printers, metal machining centres, electronic and mechanical CAD software, product testing equipment, fully automated SMT assembly line and various such facilities.
“Kerala is trying to create an exclusive hardware startup ecosystem in the state and it is necessary to create accelerators who provide product-market linkage, early market connect and access to venture funds,” said Dr Saji Gopinath, CEO of Kerala’s Startup Mission.
Requirement
To be eligible, all interested hardware startups must be based in India. They should have developed an IoT-based product prototype or must possess technical capabilities to build one. The Brinc accelerator program is open to those startups who have at least two co-founders with relevant industry experience. This will facilitate Brinc to create a scalable business model that has high growth potential.
Rohan Kalani, COO, Maker Village said that this would be an exciting opportunity for startups to get their products ready for international markets.
India currently has 49,000+ startups who depend on nearly 250+ incubators. With such an unbalanced scenario, it is tough for startups to enter into an already competitive hardware industry. This initiative by Brinc and KSUM can be considered as a right step towards encouraging startups to build more protypes and create a scalable business for the growth of Indian hardware ecosystem.
